Category Archives: Ministry Focus & Equipping

Having the right ministry focus & equipping involves many factors that all must be done in the power of God to His glory out of love for Him and people.

Guiding People into What Truly Matters in Life

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In serving one another, our role, regardless of position, is to GUIDE people.  We serve as facilitators or coaches, working in cooperation with God, guiding people to what really matters.

Leaders guide people in living out God’s will.  They should understand that it isn’t about telling people what to do, or controlling them, but serving in ways that bring people under Christ’s headship. (Matt. 20:25-28)

Bible teachers guide people into an understanding of God’s Word.  They should realize that the Holy Spirit is the real teacher. (Jn. 14:26; 16:13)  Whether teaching formally in the classroom or through informal conversation during transitions, while working on projects, before or after class, the teacher’s objective is to point people to God and His Word, not their own thoughts or opinions.

Shepherds (includes pastors, elders, parents, disciplers, etc.) guide people into Christ-likeness.  They should know that they can’t actually change people but they can take them to the Chief Shepherd who provides all they need and brings growth.  They can be example to the flock.  (1 Cor. 3:4-7; 1 Pet. 5:2-3)

People helpers guide people to a compassionate God who deeply loves them enough to send His Son to die for their sins.  They should remember that their task isn’t merely to “fix” problems but to fulfill the Great Commission by guiding people to the Source of these demonstrations of love.  (Matt. 28:19-20)

An Acrostic to Help Us in Guiding People to What Really Matters

Being a guide implies a destination to which you take people.  Consider taking people in the following directions:

God Himself
(to come into a relationship with a God who loves them)
Understanding of God’s Word
(to know God’s heart & ways as communicated in the Bible)
Intentional Living
(to obey God’s Word by fulfilling the Great Commandments to love God and others)
Devotion to Prayer
(to live life communing with and trusting in a Sovereign God)
Engagement in Serving Others
(to cooperate with God in fulfilling His mission)
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Ministry Blues? Reflecting on an Eternal God will Help!

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Everlasting, Eternal God
Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.  (Ps. 90:2)

How Remembering We Have an Eternal God Helps Us in Ministry

Even though we have an eternal God, it is so easy for us to get caught up in the here and now. To get beyond the tyranny of the urgent, the turmoil of difficult circumstances, and the turbulence of human relationships, we need to remember the following in ministry:

1)  With an Eternal God comes eternal purpose.

God accomplished His eternal purpose in Christ Jesus our Lord (Eph. 3:11) through whom He offers a relationship with Himself and the privilege of working in cooperation with Him. His intent is to not only give us an eternal inheritance but also to bring us into conformity to His Son (Rom. 8:28-30).

— Make your ambition be to line up with Him! That will set your sights on what truly matters.

2)  With an Eternal God comes eternal perspective.

His “righteousness is everlasting” and His “statutes are forever right.” We should therefore be praying, “give me understanding that I may live” (Ps. 119:142, 144). To live within that abundant life Jesus came to give (Jn. 10:10), we need His perspective on life.

— Make a conscientious effort to see life through His eyes. That will raise you above life’s petty concerns.

3)  With an Eternal God comes eternal passion.

God has an eternal passion for those He created which grows out of His eternal characteristics. His love, kindness, and mercy toward us will never end (Jer. 31:3; Isa. 54:8; Ps. 100:5; 103:17) and cannot be measured. Because His righteousness and holiness are also eternal, His concern goes beyond how we feel in the moment to our eternal welfare.

— Make time to bask in His heart for you. That will motivate you beyond measure.

4)  With an Eternal God comes eternal power.

We are without excuse for not trusting Him and living a godly life for “since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made” (Rom. 1:20). “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deut. 33:27).

— Make Him the first place you turn. That will make whatever you face seem do-able.

5)  With an Eternal God comes eternal perseverance.

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, … He will not grow tired or weary” (Isa. 40:28). He always was and always will be God who always was and always will be true to Himself who always was and always will work on behalf of His people. Even “if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (2 Tim. 2:13).

— Make reflection on His faithfulness a part of your every day life. That will enable you to keep going on even when you don’t understand.

Perhaps the demands of ministry seem like more than you can bear. Maybe the burdens of those you are seeking to help weigh you down. If you get your eyes off of your circumstances and onto God, you will find strength, joy, hope, and power of eternal proportions.  That is a sure cure for ministry blues!

Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isa. 40:31)

God’s eternality is just one of the many attributes of God we need to remember in ministry. Check out the Our Great God from A to Z Discipleship Tool Download for alphabetical listing describing the kind of God who is with us in all we do.

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I Know Some Servants … with the Spiritual Gift of Knowledge

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The Spiritual Gift of Knowledge Defined

to seek to learn as much about the Bible as possible through the gathering of much information and the analyzing of that data

Examples of How Our Gift Mix Can Help Determine Our Best Fit in Ministry

Servant #1:  He loved to study God’s Word and ferret out nuggets of truth others often missed.  Because of how well he knew the Bible, his church’s leadership assumed he should be teaching a Bible class.  He came thoroughly prepared with great content but people had a hard time staying awake or attentive.  People found his teaching boring.

Servant #2:  He loved to study the Bible as well and also thoroughly prepared, ferreting out nuggets of truth others often missed.  He, however, did not come across as scholarly and people were able to track with him as he systematically explained what he had learned in ways the class could understand.

The second servant had both the gift of knowledge and teaching whereas the first servant did not have the gift of teaching.

Lessons to be learned:

When recruiting teachers, don’t just look for someone who knows the Bible well.  Look for someone with the potential to effectively present the knowledge they have accumulated.  If the person has the gift of knowledge, consider his/her gift mix.  Does this person also have the gift of teaching or exhortation?

Someone with the gift of knowledge but not the gifts of teaching or exhortation, would be better suited for doing research for others or for writing.  While these servants can be trained to be better communicators, they will still tend to get very detailed or present more content than people can handle.  They will tend to struggle with the attention-getting and application parts of the lesson, wanting to get right into and stay focused on the meat of the subject.

Ministry Handbook: Spiritual Gifts in UseGet this example of the spiritual gift of knowledge in use, along with 20 other gifts, in the Ministry Handbook: Spiritual Gifts in Use. In addition, the handbook suggests spiritual gifts most typically used in 16 broad ministry areas and 27 specific tasks that may need to be accomplished in most of those areas.

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Tapping into the Riches of the Knowledge of God

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The Knowledge of God is limitless.

Knowledge of God is Limitless and Rich
Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? (Rom. 11:33-34)

As the One of whom there is no greater, God must be all-knowing.  He must be able to see the big picture and fit all the particulars together in the best possible way.

Of significance is that Romans 11:33 does not say that God’s knowledge is deep, although it is.  Rather, the riches of His wisdom and knowledge are deep.  Out of His knowledge comes great benefit which He shares with us.

How the Limitless Knowledge of God Helps Us

  1. The knowledge God has of us enables us to know our own heart, thoughts, and ways.

For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. (1 Jn. 3:20)

The psalmist asked God to search and know his heart, thoughts, and ways (Ps. 139:23-24) because he believed in the omniscience of God which included God having intimate knowledge of all there was to know about him (Ps. 139:1-4).  David’s prayer was more for his own benefit, a request for God to make known to him what God already knew about him. This was important because God’s knowledge, taken to heart, would help keep David on track.

  1. God’s Knowledge keeps us on track.

We will stay on track morally if we act like He knows our ways.  We will stay on track attitudinally if we manage ourselves like He knows our thoughts. We will stay on track motivationally if we pursue life like He knows our hearts. We will stay on track in ministry if we serve like He knows the beginning from the end.

  1. The knowledge of God, as opposed to our limited understanding, takes us beyond our own limitations.

Our knowledge, in contrast to His, is so limited.  If we don’t rely on His knowledge, we won’t always meet the challenges of ministry.  We won’t always get it right.  For example:

  • Because we can’t know the motivations of people’s hearts, sometimes we might misinterpret their behavior.
  • Since we don’t always know the end we sometimes might give up prematurely.
  • Not knowing all the possibilities at times, we sometimes might get stuck in our methodology.
  • Because we don’t usually know much beyond our own frame of reference and experience sometimes we might lead and serve according to our own limited perspective and personality bent.

We will falter in our ways if we do not trust in Him with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding (Prov. 3:5-6) because we don’t see the big picture.  We will be short-sighted in how we perceive hardships if we do not yield to His use of life’s difficulties to bring about a greater good.  If we truly believe and live like God knows the beginning from the end, we will enjoy the reality of being “more than conquerors through Him” in all these things (Rom. 8:37).

Let’s acknowledge the futility of trusting in our own understanding and trust in the One who has unlimited knowledge.  Let’s tap into the riches of God’s knowledge!

God’s knowledge is just one of many attributes we need to tap into. Get alphabetical listings of His attributes in the Our Great God from A to Z Discipleship Tool Download.

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Our Beliefs About the Bible Have Implications

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What we believe about the Bible, specifically about its authority and main focus, has implications. As we will see, it affects our personal relationship with the Lord and also has implications for the way we serve.

Our Beliefs about the Bible Affect our Relationship with God

The following issues will affect the kind of relationship we have with God.

The Authority of the Bible – Can the Bible be trusted?

If the Bible truly is inspired by God and can be trusted, then we should find ourselves believing what it says, obeying its precepts, and following the principles laid out in it.

If we think the Bible is not completely God’s Word and cannot be fully trusted, then we have the option of following what it says and can pick and choose what to believe.

Focus & Theme of the Bible – What is the Bible about?

If we think the Bible is a religious book about man’s efforts to reconcile with God, then we will tend to take a more legalistic approach and depend more on ourselves than on Him.  Life will be more centered around us and our accomplishments.

If we see the Bible as a love story about God’s efforts to reach man, then we will better understand grace and trust Him to work for our good even when we don’t understand life’s circumstances.  Life will be centered more around God and His purposes.

What We Believe about the Word Has Implications for Ministry

These same issues will affect the way we serve in our various ministries and how we help other people find God.

The Authority of the Bible – Can the Bible be trusted?

Those sold out to the authority of the Bible have a standard that is reliable and that must be used as a filter in all decisions.  Otherwise, ministry can quickly become everybody doing what is right in their own eyes which can only lead to inconsistencies and ineffectiveness.

Focus & Theme of the Bible – What is the Bible about?

Those seeing the focus of the Bible as God’s working will tend to get beyond the stories and commands to the God of Scripture who is the source and sustainer of life and the Savior of the world. Otherwise ministry could become about helping people to simply know what the Bible says and to follow a bunch of rules and regulations.  We will have religion over relationship.

What Bible Teachers Need to Know About the Bible - Finding God

Click Below to Learn About a Worksheet for Bible Teachers:

What Bible Teachers Need to Know About God’s Word To Help Students Find God in the Scriptures

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5 Signs Ministry Leadership Has Turned Christ-like

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Christ-like Servant Leadership
As ministry leaders we need to adapt Christ-like ways of leading — that of servant leadership.

Signs of Christ-like Servant Leadership

You can know a ministry leader has adapted Christ-like ways of leading rather than controlling or abusive ways when:

1)  People are emotionally enriched.

They are consistently or persistently encouraged and affirmed as people loved by God, made to feel unconditionally accepted in Him.

2)  People are spiritually engaged.

They are made to feel like they have a part in the Body of Christ, that their spiritual input matters to the growth and health of the Body.

3)  People are socially expanded.

They are encouraged to reach out beyond the walls of the church, as well as to fellowship with one another wherein they will learn and be built up.

4)  People are mentally esteemed.

They are trusted to make decisions within parameters and are consulted on other important decisions.

5)  People are physically empowered.

They are given Biblical principles to discern how to be good stewards and are given tools to help where they struggle.

In essence, when leaders build up, respect, and trust their members, they are acting as fellow-servants.  In Matthew 20:25-28 Jesus identified servanthood as the way He expected His disciples to lead.  In so doing, they are emulating Him as “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”  To lead from any other stance is to open the doors for potential abuse.  — 5 Signs Ministry Leadership Has Turned Abusive

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